Important Questions Class 8 Social Science Our Pasts 3 Chapter 4

Q.1 This is a picture of Santhal girl carrying firewood. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the occupation of the Santhals? 2
2. Why were the Santhal unhappy under the British Raj? 2

Ans

1. The primary occupation of the Santhals is agriculture, though food gathering and hunting are their important subsidiary occupation. They also engage in fishing and making musical instruments, mats and baskets from plants.

2. The Santhals were unhappy due to the following reasons:
a) Under the British, the familiar ways of life of the Santhals seemed to be disappearing. There was greater mobility of the non-tribals in the tribal community.
b) Under British rule, a number of Anglican and Catholic missions appeared, which were considered as a threat to their religion.
c) The money lenders and the zamindars that first appeared to them as mere businessmen gave them loans, cheated and turned them into slaves; thus, threatened their livelihoods.

Q.2 Why did the tribals agitate under the British rule?

Ans

Several reasons were responsible to arouse the tribal leaders to mobilize the tribals and start agitations:
1. Harsh and unfriendly forest laws and regulations.
2. Change in the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs. They lost the authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people.
3. Lack of credit facilities and exploitation by traders and moneylenders.
4. Ineffective government measures to rehabilitate the tribal population.

Q.3 Where shifting cultivation was widely practiced?

Ans

Shifting cultivation is the oldest cultivation system. It was practiced in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.

Q.4 Which tribal group was reluctant to work for others and why?

Ans

Baigas of central India were reluctant to work for others. They were the wildest and most isolated tribal people. They thought that it was below their dignity to work as labourers. They were totally dependent on the jungle and considered themselves as the people of the forest.

Q.5 Why did the tribals consider the moneylenders as the cause of their misery?

Ans

Tribals took loans from the moneylenders to meet their cash requirements. But these moneylenders charged high interest rate on these loans leading to debt and poverty of the tribal. Thus, the tribals considered the moneylenders as the cause of their misery.

Q.6 Mention some tribal groups who herded animals?

Ans

Many tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons. Some of the tribal groups who herded animals were the Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and the Labadis of Andhra Pradesh, the Gaddis of Kulu and the Bakarwals of Kashmir.

Q.7 How did the British rule affect the lives of the tribal chiefs?

Ans

A tribal chief was the head of the tribe. Before the coming of the British, the tribal chiefs were economically and politically powerful people. Under the British rule, there was a considerable change in the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs. Much of their administrative powers were lost and they had to follow laws made by the British. They were required to pay tribute to the British. They no longer remained their own masters.

Q.8 Why did the British introduce land settlements in the tribes?

Ans

The British introduced land settlements in order to have a regular source of revenue for the state. Under these land settlements, the land was measured, rights of each individual to that land were defined and the revenue demand for the state was fixed. The peasants were divided in two segments, one was landowners and the others were the tenants. The tenants were required to pay rent to the landowner who in turn paid revenue to the state.

Q.9 Mention the main characteristics of Indian tribes.

Ans

The main characteristics of Indian tribes are as follows:
1. Absence of sharp social divisions.
2. Ties of kinship important for social bondings.
3. No hierarchy among men and groups.
4. Little value to the use of capital and trade activities.

Q.10 What problems did the tribals face under the British?

Ans

The tribals were unhappy with the changes under the British rule. They were displaced from their homes, alienated from their lands and deprived of their resources. Their culture was also in danger. As a result, they were constantly in conflict with the British.

Q.11 Read the given source and answer the questions :
The songs the Mundas sang bemoaned their Misery.

Alas! under [the drudgery of] forced labour
Blood trickles from my shoulders
Day and night the emissary from the zamindars,
Annoys and irritates me, day and night I groan
Alas! This is my condition
I do not have a home, where shall I get happiness
Alas!

1. Who are the Mundas?
2. This poem depicts the grievances of the Mundas. What were they?
3. What was aim of this movement? [1 + 2 + 1 = 4]

Ans

1. Mundas are the tribal people who mainly inhabit in the Chotanagpur region which is spread over eastern states of India such as Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Orissa and Assam.

2. The Munda society was disintegrating under the stress and strains of colonial rule. They had many grievances, which led to the famous Munda rebellion. Some of the grievances were:
a) The advent of the British accelerated the mobility of the non-tribal people into the tribal regions, which was unacceptable to the tribals. The incidence of forced labour also increased dramatically.
b) The spread of education through missionary activities made the tribals more organised and conscious of their rights. The agrarian discontent and the advent of Christianity, therefore, helped the revitalisation of the movement, which sought to reconstruct the tribal society

3. This movement sought to assert rights of the Mundas as the real proprietors of the soil and the expulsion of middlemen and the British.

Q.12 Read the given source and answer the questions: In the1930s Verrier Elwin visited the land of the Baigas – a tribal group in central India. He wanted to know about them – their customs and practices, their art and folklore. He recorded many songs that lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.

In this land of the English how hard it is to live
How hard it is to live
In the village sits the landlord
In the gate sits the Kotwar
In the garden sits the Patwari
In the field sits the government
In this land of the English how hard it is to live
To pay cattle tax we have to sell cow
To pay forest tax we have to sell buffalo
To pay land tax we have to sell bullock

How are we to get our food?
In this land of the English

1. Who are Baigas? Why did they find it difficult to live under the English?
2. What was the main occupation of the Baigas? [2 + 2 = 4]

Ans

1. Baigas are one of the tribes found in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states of India. The Baigas had to pay numerous taxes such as cattle tax, forest tax and land tax, for which they had to sell their cattle. They were not able to fulfill their daily needs. Thus, they found it difficult to live under the English.

2. They formerly practiced only shifting agriculture in forest areas. Majority of them have now become regular cultivators. They make bamboo mats and baskets, which they sell in the village weekly markets. They also collect and sell honey and other forest products.

Q.13 What is Mahua?

Ans

Mahua flowers are grown in the forests of Central India.The flower is eaten or used to make alcohol by the tribals of India.

Q.14 Which tribal group did Birsa belong to?

Ans

Birsa belonged to a family of Mundas – a tribal group that lived in Chottanagpur.

Q.15 Who were called as ‘Jhum cultivators’?

Ans

The tribal people who practised jhum cultivation, that is shifting cultivation, were called Jhum cultivators.

Q.16 Mention two important methods that the tribal groups practiced to obtain their livelihood.

Ans

The two important methods that the tribals practiced to obtain their livelihood were
1. hunting animals and
2. gathering forest produce.

Q.17 p class=”MsoListParagraph” style=”margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal;”>Name the flowers which were used by the tribals to colour clothes and leather?

Ans

Kusum amd Palash flowers were used to colour clothes and leather

Q.18 Give any two examples of the tribal groups which lived by herding and rearing animals.

Ans

The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills were cattle herders and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.

Q.19 Who are the Vaishnavs?

Ans

The worshippers of Lord Vishnu are known as Vaishnavs

Q.20 What is the meaning of the term ‘Bewar’?

Ans

The term Bewar is used in Madhya Pradesh for shifting cultivation.

Q.21 Distinguish between the the social condition of the tribes and that of the Brahmans.

Ans

1. Tribes had customs and rituals that were very different from the Brahmans.
2. They did not have any sharp social divisions based on caste systems which were practiced by the Brahmans.

Q.22 What were the two rebellions which took place against the colonial forest laws?

Ans

1. The revolt of Songram Sangma in 1906 in Assam.
2. The forest Satyagraha of the 1930s in the Central Provinces

Q.23 How did Birsa reform the tribal society?

Ans

Birsa was deeply influenced by many of the ideas he came in touch with in his growing-up years. His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society. He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. But we must remember that Birsa also turned against missionaries and Hindu landlords. He saw them as outside forces that were ruining the Munda way of life

Q.24 What were the usual chores of tribes during the month of Baisakh?

Ans

During the month of Baisakh, the burning of forests took place, where women gathered unburnt wood to burn. Men continued to hunt close to the village.

Q.25 What was Birsa’s vision of a golden age?

Ans

Birsa’s vision of a golden age was the recovery of the past which was a period when the Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to earn their living.

Q.26 Describe the shifting or jhum cultivation of the tribal groups?

Ans

1. Jhum or shifting cultivation was done on small patches of land in the forest areas.
2. The cultivators cut down the treetops to allow sunlight to reach the ground.
3. Vegetation on the land was burnt to clear the land for cultivation.
4. The potash from the burnt vegetation was used to make the soil fertile. After cultivation, the land was left fallow so that the soil could regain its fertility.

Q.27 How did the Khonds community live?

Ans

1. The Khonds lived in the forests of Orissa by hunting animals and gathering forest produce.
2. They used forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes and sold forest products in the local markets.
3. They ate fruits and roots collected from the forest and cooked food with the oil they extracted from the seeds of the sal and mahua.

Q.28 How did the colonial rule affect the life of tribal chiefs?

Ans

1. During the British rule, the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs had changed.
2. They were allowed to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and rent out land but had to pay tribute to the British and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British.
3. They lost their authority among people and were unable to fulfill their traditional functions.

Q.29 Describe the impact of colonial forest laws on tribal lives?

Ans

1. The British extended their control over all forests and declared the forests as state properties.
2. Some forests were classified as Reserved forests for they produced timber that the British wanted.
3. Forest laws prevented the people to move freely, practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits or hunt animals.

Q.30 What was the problem faced by the silk growers (Santhals) of Jharkhand during the nineteenth century?

Ans

Indian silk was in great demand in the European markets.The Santhals of Jharkhand reared cocoons and they were paid Rs 3 to Rs 4 for a thousand cocoons by the middlemen who worked between the exporters and the silk growers. This badly affected their (Santhals) revenue.

Q.31 What was the impact of the achievements of Birsa Munda on the tribal communities after his death?

Ans

1. After Birsa’s death, his movement faded out. But it forced the Colonial rule to introduce laws to protect the lands of the tribes from being captured by dikus.
2. It showed that tribal people had the capacity to protest against the injustice and express their anger against the colonial rule.
3. The tribes had developed their own ideas and symbols of struggle.

Q.32 Describe the life achievements of Birsa Munda?

Ans

Birsa was deeply influenced by the ideas of many he came in touch with during his childhood and he aimed at reforming the tribal societies.
1. He urged the Mundas to give up liquor, clean their village and stop believing in witchcrafts and sorcery.
2. He also turned against the Hindu landlords and missionaries as he saw them as an outside force ruining the Munda’s way of life.
3. He talked of the golden age in the past – satyug- when Mundas lived a good life, an honest life and built embankments and planted trees.
4. The British arrested Birsa as his movement of setting up a government Munda Raj with him as head spread, and jailed him for 2 years. He still toured tribal villages and set up the Birsa Raj.

Q.33 Explain the trade activities of tribal groups in the nineteenth century? How did they come to see traders as Dikus and enemies?

Ans

1. Tribal groups often needed to buy and sell goods that were produced within the locality, and hence were depended on money lenders and traders.Traders came around with things for sale and sold their goods at high prices.
2. Money lenders gave loans with which the tribes met their cash needs, adding to what they earned but as the interest charges were high on the loans, most of the tribal people were indebted and lived in poverty.
3 Therefore, tribal groups came to see the money lenders and traders as evil outsiders and the cause of their misery.

Q.34 What is the meaning of ‘Fallow’?

Ans

A field left uncultivated for a while so that the soil recovers fertility is called fallow.

Q.35 What changes did the colonial rule bring to the tribal forest dwelling people of India?

Ans

Colonial rule brought about drastic changes in the tribal society. Before the arrival of the British, tribal chiefs were important people and enjoyed certain amount of economic power and the right to administer their limited territory. British made the tribal chiefs bereft of their administrative powers. They had to follow the laws made by the British officials. They also had to discipline their people according to the British. Paying tributes was also one of the duties of the tribal chief.

Shifting cultivation was done away with since the British preferred settled peasants, as they were easier to control and administer. Many forests were declared state property and given the status of reserved forests. Tribals were not allowed to move freely in these reserved forest areas.